God

They will eat but not have enough and consort with whores but have no children, because they stopped listening to ADONAI.

My people consult their piece of wood, their diviner's wand speaks to them; for the spirit of whoring makes them err, they go off whoring, deserting their God.

I won't punish your daughters when they act like whores, or your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery; because the men are themselves going off with whores and sacrificing with prostitutes. Yes, a people without understanding will come to ruin."

If you, Isra'el, prostitute yourself, still Y'hudah has no need to incur such guilt. Don't go to Gilgal or up to Beit-Aven, and don't swear, "As ADONAI lives."

For Isra'el is stubborn as a stubborn cow; will ADONAI now feed them like a lamb in a big pasture?

The rebels have deepened their slaughter, and I am rejected by all of them.

"I know Efrayim; Isra'el is not hidden from me; for now, Efrayim, you are a whore; Isra'el is defiled."

Their deeds will not allow them to return to their God, for the spirit of whoring is in them, and they don't know ADONAI.

With their flocks and herds they will go in search of ADONAI. But they won't find him; he has withdrawn from them.

They have betrayed ADONAI, by fathering foreign children. Now within the month the invaders will devour their lands.

Efrayim will be laid waste when the day for punishment comes; I am announcing to the tribes of Isra'el what will surely happen.

The leaders of Y'hudah are like men who move boundary stones; I will pour my fury out upon them like water.

Therefore I am like a moth to Efrayim and like rottenness to the house of Y'hudah.

For to Efrayim I will be like a lion, and like a young lion to the house of Y'hudah - I will tear them up and go away; I will carry them off, and no one will rescue.

I will go and return to my place, till they admit their guilt and search for me, seeking me eagerly in their distress."

Come, let us return to ADONAI; for he has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck, and he will bind our wounds.

After two days, he will revive us; on the third day, he will raise us up; and we will live in his presence.

Let us know, let us strive to know ADONAI. That he will come is as certain as morning; he will come to us like the rain, like the spring rains that water the earth.

"Efrayim, what should I do to you? Y'hudah, what should I do to you? For your 'faithful love' is like a morning cloud, like dew that disappears quickly.

This is why I have cut them to pieces by the prophets, slaughtered them with the words from my mouth - the judgment on you shines out like light.

For what I desire is mercy, not sacrifices, knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

"But they, just like men, have broken the covenant, they have been faithless in dealing with me.

In the house of Isra'el I have seen a horrible thing; whoring is found there in Efrayim, Isra'el is defiled.

For you, too, Y'hudah, a harvest will come! "When I restore the fortunes of my people,

when I am ready to heal Isra'el, the crimes of Efrayim confront me, along with the wickedness of Shomron. For they keep practicing deceit; thieves break in, bands of robbers raid outside.